Water-gun.



Patented .lurl I7, |902. C. H. RADCLIFFE.

' WATER GUN..

(Application Sled Dec. 19,1901.)

(No'Model.)

, kw m l 4 i Nrrnu 'rares PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES II. RADCLIFFE, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

WATER-GUN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 702,478, dated June 17, 1902.

Application Iiled December `19,1901,l Serial No. 86,481. (No model.) l

T0 all whom zit may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES IIRADCLIFFE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elgin, county of Kane, and State of I1linois,have invented a certain new and useful Improvementin Water-Guns, of which the following is a specification. l l

My invention contemplates a device somewhat in the nature of a toy, and is designed more particularly for use in lodges, secret societies, and like organizations. To such end the device preferably has the appearance of an ordinary gun and is provided with the usual barrel, stock, and trigger. In addition to these, however, the gun is constructed with ejecting devices adapted to be released by the trigger. These ejecting devices are adapted to eject water or other fluid from the rear end of the gun-barrel. In this way thc candidate is led to believe that only an ordinary gun is to be fired. Upon pulling the trigger, however, a discharge of water is received full in the face.` The ejecting mechanism can be of any suitable known or approved form.

Broadly considered, my invention contemplates a toy, or, more strictly speaking, a device for use in initiations, having substantially the appearance of an ordinary gun, but, as explained, provided with means for ejecting water or other' iivuid into the'- face of the operator or person pulling the trigger. The nature and. operation of my invention will, however, hereinafter more fullyappear.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure lis a longitudinal section through a water-gun constructed according to my invention, the stock of the gun being shown in elevation and both the stock and the forward portion of the barrel being broken away for convenience of illustration. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectionalview of the rear portion of the barrel and the trigger mechanism, showing the same in position to discharge the water. Fig. 3 is a crosssection on line 3 3 in Fig. l. Fig. 4 is a cross-section on line 4 4L in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a cross-section on line 5 5 in Fig. 2.

As thus i1lu,strated,my invention comprises, preferably, a gun-stock A` and a gun-barrel B, the same being suitably connected and shaped to give the appearance of an ordinary gun. The barrel B can, if desired, be made in sections, the sections b being connected to- -ger b3, having its rod or stem b4 extending forwardly .through two of thethreaded joints b. This stem or rod b4 is preferably provided `with a shoulder b5 and also with a small -lug or projection b. A coil-spring 57 is preferably provided andarranged for compression between the shoulder Zaud the threaded joint Z9. Preferably a guide or support bs is provided for the spring and the shoulder b5, and this guide or support is preferably provided on its under side with a longitudinally-extending slot b9. The said plunger and its rod or stem are thus adaptedfor reciprocatiou in the barrel of the gun, and during such reciprocation the lug or projection h6 slides in the said slot b9. With this arrangement it will be seen that the tendency of the said spring is to normally hold the plunger b3 against the solid end portion h2. j This solid end portion is preferably provided with a discharge-opening Z210. The trigger C is preferably and desirably arranged as shown and is connected by a rod c with the dog or releasing device c'. A spring c2 serves to normally hold the trigger and said dog or releasing device in the position shown in Fig. l. It will be seen, therefore, that when the plunger and its rod or stem are drawn forward, as shown in Fig. l, the said lug or projection h6 then engages the said dog or releasing device c and that the latter then holds the plunger-iu the position shown in said Fig. 1. In this way the plunger can be set and.` held by the trigger mechanism, and the spacebetween-the plunger and the solid portion b2 can then be filled with water or l other fiuid, and upon drawing back the said 'triggerthe plunger will then be released and the water discharged from r the opening blo. It is desirable, however, that some suitable valve mechanism be provided for preventing the water or iiuid from leaking through the passage Z910 before the gun is discharged. As a simple and eifective arrangement I provide the valve D, having a stem d, provided with a notch d. A spring d2 .holds the valve normally closed. Then closed, the said notch d is engaged by the locking-bolt d3, which is held normally in engagement with the said IOO valve-stem by a spring d4. This locking-bolt, it will be observed, is arranged for reciprocation and connected at its forward end to the upper portion of the trigger C. In this Way the said valve mechanism is adapted to operate simultaneously With the plunger or ejecting mechanism. When the trigger is pulled, the plunger is released simultaneously with the opening of the valve. It will be seen, therefore, that I not only provide simple and effective mechanism for discharging the Water or other fluid, but also that I provide simple and effective coperating mechanism for controlling the dischargeopening. Furthermore, all of the devices and mechanisms are operated and controlled by a single trigger. If desired, a drain-opening bu can be provided in the solid end portion of the barrel, so as to permit the Water or other fluid to drain oif readily after a discharge. Thus it will be seen that I provide a device Which has all the appearance of an ordinary gun, but which is adapted to surprise the operator, probably the candidate for initiation into a secret society, by a rearward discharge of Water. Practical jokes of this character are an essential and necessary feature of lodge and secret-society` initiations, and for this reason I have, as stated, given the aforedescribed device the appearance of an article which will very readily lead the candidate to expect a result very different from that which actually follows.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. A toy or device for use in initiating candidates into lodges, secret societies and other like organizations, consisting of a gun-stock, a gun-barrel mounted upon said stock, a trigger, said barrel being adapted to contain Water or other fluid and having a rear dischargeopening, ejecting mechanism for ejecting water or other Huid through said dischargeopening, and a locking device for locking the ejecting mechanism in condition to eject the water, said locking device being connected with and operated by the said trigger.

' 2. Atoyor device forthe purpose described, consisting of a device having substantially the shape and appearance of an ordinary gun, the same being provided With a rear discharge-opening and also with a chamber for Water or other fluid, ej ecting devices for ejecting the water or other fluid through said discharge-opening, and a trigger for releasing said ej ecting devices and thereby dischargingL the Water into the face of the operator.

3. A toy or device for the purpose described, consisting of a device having the shape and appearance of an ordinary gun, the same being provided with a rear discharge-opening,

ejecting devices for ejecting any desired substance or fluid through said discharge-opening, and a trigger for releasing said ejecting devices.

4. A toy Water-.gun for use in the manner described, comprising a gun-stock, a gun-barrel, said gun-barrel being constructed with a Water-chamber and also a rear dischargeopening, a spring-pressed plunger in closed by said barrel and adapted for ejecting the Water through said discharge-opening, and trigger mechanism for holding said plunger in position to eject the Water.

5. A toy or the like for the purpose described, consisting of a device in the nature of and having substantially the shape and appearance of a gun, the rear end of the gunbarrel being provided with a discharge-opening, a Water-chamber in said gun, a springpressed plunger inclosed by said gun-barrel and adapted to eject Water through said discharge-opening, trigger mechanism for releasing said plunger, and a valve device operated by said trigger and adapted to control said discharge-opening.

6. In a toy device of the character and for the purpose specilied, the combination of a gun-stock, agun-barrel, said gun-barrel being provided With a rear discharge-opening and a Water-chamber, a spring-pressed plunger inclosed by said gun-barrel and adapted to eject the water through said discharge-opening, a trigger device for releasing said plunger, a reciprocating valve held normally seated by a spring and adapted to control said discharge-opening, and a locking-bolt operated by said trigger device and adapted for releasing said valve, the trigger thereby operating to simultaneously release said plunger and open said discharge-opening.

7. A toy for use in initiating candidates into lodges, secret societies and like fraternal organizations, consisting of a device having substantially the shape and appearance of a lirearrn, the same being constructed With a Water-chamber and a rear discharge-opening adapted to direct the discharge into the face of the operator, ejecting mechanism for forcing the Water through said discharge-opening, and a trigger device for releasing said ejecting mechanism at the moment when the usual discharge or report is expected from the firearm.

Signed by me at Chicago, Cook county, Illinois, this 14th day of December, A. D. 1901.

CHARLES I'I. RADCLIFFE.

Witnesses:

FRANK L. KRIETE, M. E. HENDERSON.

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